Based on my Dr. Collins Practice Test scores, how would I rank on the PCAT?

[DH1987]

Well, after taking the first 5 practice tests on the chemistry section of the Dr. Collins packet, it seems like I consistently get about 85-90% of the answers right, and I'm always completing them in well under 30 minutes - usually about 5-7 minutes to spare. What do you guys think that would translate to in a Percentile Ranking on the actual PCAT in the chemistry section?

For those who already took the PCAT, how well did you guys do on the Dr. Collins packet, and what scores did you get on the Chemistry section in the real test?

I would really like to shoot for a 99 percentile rank...I really want to make up for my mediocre GPA (2.9) and lack of pharmacy experience.

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[JonPrePharmD]

Well, after taking the first 5 practice tests on the Dr. Collins packet, it seems like I consistently get about 85-90% of the answers right, and I'm always completing them in well under 30 minutes - usually about 5-7 minutes to spare. What do you guys think that would translate to in a Percentile Ranking on the actual PCAT?

How well did you guys do on the Dr. Collins packet, and what scores did you get on the Chemistry section?

I would really like to shoot for a 99 percentile rank...I really want to make up for my mediocre GPA (2.9) and lack of pharmacy experience.

For Biology I got an 80 in Bio when my tests were all 90%+

For the rest of the sections, my percentiles were ~10% lower than my Dr. Collins test scores. Also lower for VA, my tests were 99-100% on VA my percentile was 92.

 

[DH1987]

Sorry, I was wanting to ask specifically about Chemistry. I didn't really mention that in my post. The 5 practice tests I took were all on Chemistry.

So your Dr. Collins Chemistry score was about 10% higher than your PCAT Chemistry test scores? What was your PCAT score on that if you don't mind me asking?

 

[klj5269]

I practiced with Collins and probably got 80-85% on the chem practice tests but I got a 96 on the chem section when I took the actual PCAT. I think its different for everyone and what they are best at or focus on, but I was overall satisfied with how well the Collins material prepared me.

 

[harmonidrum]

I think Collins is really best for digging out the "trivia" type questions more than anything. The Pearson exams are a better litmus test for determining your competency.

 

[xtsukiyox]

The Pearson exams are a better litmus test for determining your competency.

Competency including knowledge and test taking skill. (Things like watching the time, not getting hung up on a bad question, educated guesses, etc.)

 

[DH1987]

I think Collins is really best for digging out the "trivia" type questions more than anything. The Pearson exams are a better litmus test for determining your competency.

"litmus test". Nice choice of words. xD

But yeah, I think I'll just bite the bullet and pay the $40 for the Pearson exam, since it also estimates your percentile ranking. Thanks. =)

 

[frankdahtank]

For Biology I got an 80 in Bio when my tests were all 90%+

For the rest of the sections, my percentiles were ~10% lower than my Dr. Collins test scores. Also lower for VA, my tests were 99-100% on VA my percentile was 92.

I'm seriously not trying to be an ******* but I'm confused on why you appear to believe that Collin's was not an accurate measure of your score range. You say your tests were 90%+ in this thread but in mine you clearly gave every single score and your pcat score reflects the average of your practice test scores.
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=845545

To be honest, I personally feel that Collin's is a great way to gauge how you are going to do on the actual pcat. I haven't taken mine yet so I don't know exactly how well I'll perform compared to Collin's but I feel that I have a pretty good idea. I also feel, along with many other people on this forum, that taking the Pearson practice exams helps immensely. Taking all of the pharmacy prerequisites and majoring in some science field should give you a strong enough foundation to perform fairly well on the pcat before you even start studying. There is no reason why anyone who has completed the prereqs should score below 50-60th percentile before you even started studying. I'm also not referring to people who took these classes 50 years ago or something similar to this. The problem occurs when 1) people haven't taken the classes the pcat tests on or 2) people did take the classes but didn't do well in them and didn't learn the material so it is as if they never actually took them at all, and then they only study from Collin's or the pearson practice tests and do poorly because they didn't see the exact same questions on the test. These tests are meant to sample all of the material and are not intended to be the limits to the questions they can and will ask. This doesn't mean you can't learn from the questions or that they aren't helpful in some other way. For me, I used the questions I missed to help guide my studying. In the beginning I didn't know exactly how the endocrine system worked or what organs were involved and what each released. After missing a few questions I realized this must be a fairly important topic, i.e. there will probably be at least one question pertaining to this subject on the pcat, so what did I do? I made sure I could answer anything and everything about the endocrine system (at a pcat level, let's not get crazy now) because I KNEW it was going to be on there. Since I don't have all the time in the world to memorize/learn everything I need to know before the pcat (I'm also not saying I didn't have plenty of time to start studying since I've had like four years to prepare, or my whole life depending on how you look at it) I chose to focus on things that would be highly probable to appear and to learn less thoroughly things that I felt wouldn't necessarily have to be on there. For example, I chose to learn in great detail the endocrine system but only skimmed over plant hormones and how many chambers each type of animal has. There is a greater chance of seeing a question related to the endocrine system than to see a specific question about plant hormones or how many chambers a hippo's heart has. If questions do appear on the latter I will have some memory of what I skimmed so I will be well equipped with the knowledge to make a very good educated guess. I had some other things to say but I can't seem to think of them right now so I guess I'll end my post here. Anyway, the consensus seems to be that both Collin's and Pearson practice tests are very helpful.